Abstract

This article discusses the metaphor of hea­venly account-keeping from a Zoroastrian and from a Jewish angle and explores the extent to which there may be a connec­tion. It argues that the image of heavenly account-keeping is likely to have origi­nated in a Zoroastrian context and borro­wed into Judaism during the Parthian pe­riod. The idea also lives on in Roman Catholi­cism.